My First Brew: Oatmeal Stout...so a couple of questions

[S.T. Out]

Hi everybody,

I just did my first brewing last thursday (the 15th, so it's been about 5 days) and I have a couple questions before I siphon from primary to secondary. This is a Mash-Extract 5 gallon batch btw.

1. Is there a way to know exactly when I should siphon the beer from the primary fermentor to the secondary? Do I have to check with the hydrometer? Can I tell by just looking at it, checking for bubbles? There isnt anymore air bubbles coming out of the airlock, hasnt been for a couple days now.

2. My primary fermentor is a 6 gallon carboy and when I poured the wort into it it didn't fill up as much as I thought it would (probably filled up a little under 3/4 of the way). Did I loose a lot of water while boiling? I think I may have boiled too long because of my inadequate burner. Will losing too much water during the boil affect the beer much?

I appreciate any advice you can give. Thanks.

Kind Regards,
S.T. Out

 

[El Pistolero]

1. Once the krauzen has fallen you can move to the secondary.

2. Most here top the primary off to 5.5 gallons, so that after losses you'll end up with a 5 gallons of bottle beer.

 

[Darth Konvel]

Just a reminder: If you do increase your future batch sizes to compensate for losses during the process, remember to compensate with additional malt as needed. Otherwise you're just watering down your beer.

1) Everyone has their own rule of thumb for this one: 7 days, wait for the krausen to settle, take gravity readings, wait until bubbling slows to a curtain rate, etc. You sound like you're good to transfer.

2) I always feel like my carboy isn't as full as it should be You should be fine though. If you ended up with conciderably less then 5 gals, then your beer might be a little stronger. Did you take a gravity reading at the beging / before fermentation?

 

[S.T. Out]

LupusUmbrus,

Yes, I took a reading before fermenting. So I should be good to go then. And I'll take another reading while it's in the secondary to determine when I'll rack into the keg. Thanks for the help.

 

[Cheesefood]

2. Most here top the primary off to 5.5 gallons, so that after losses you'll end up with a 5 gallons of bottle beer.

What do you have against leaving a little for the homies?

I always figure that the 1/2 gallon I dump is a tribute to Farley, the God of Beer.

 

[El Pistolero]

Does Farley really care whether he gets 10% or 9%? I mean if he does, I'll certainly pay him his due.

 

[S.T. Out]

ummmm....if a few ounces of diluted iodophor goes into the fermentor what happens to the beer?.....would it be totally ruined or have a really strange taste?......you dont even want to know.....so dont ask

 

[Dude]

ummmm....if a few ounces of diluted iodophor goes into the fermentor what happens to the beer?.....would it be totally ruined or have a really strange taste?......you dont even want to know.....so dont ask

It PROBABLY won't be noticeable.

How'd that happen?

 

[Shambolic]

I've decided that it's best to transfer to the secondary when you still have a bit of action in the primary. That way the CO2 production will flush any oxygen etc. out of your secondary...

 

[Cheesefood]

Does Farley really care whether he gets 10% or 9%? I mean if he does, I'll certainly pay him his due.

Dude, Farley's a drunk, not a geek. He doesn't demannd tithing and he can't tell the difference between "a full can" and "pour a sip in my hand for a dime". Whenever you spill beer, Farley takes a little. The rest all goes to your homies-who-have-fallen anyway.